A relative of a passenger on board the crashed TransAsia Airways plane cries in Kaohsiung International Airport, southern Taiwan, July 23, 2014. A TransAsia Airways turboprop ATR-72 plane crashed on its second attempt at landing during a thunderstorm on Penghu, an island off Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 47 people and setting buildings on fire, officials said.
Reuters

The Director of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Sheng Ching (2L) speaks to media at the Sungshan airport in Taipei on July 23, 2014. More than 40 people were killed in a plane crash in Taiwan, officials said, with local television reporting the flight had smashed into two houses after an aborted landing. Authorities said Taiwanese airline TransAsia Airways flight GE222, with 58 on board, crashed near Magong airport on the outlying Penghu island after having requested a second attempt to land.
SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images)

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Update (12:01 p.m. ET):

Aviation officials in Taiwan confirmed that 47 people died in the accident and an additional 11 people were injured, reports The New York Times.

Update (11:17 a.m. ET):

The map below shows the region where flight GE222 crashed.

Mangong Airport is located in Mangong City, Taiwan. Twitter/_esaliba

According to officials, the crash occured at Magong Airport in Magong City, which is located off the west coast of Taiwan on the Penghu Islands.

Update (10:43 a.m. ET):

Jean Shen, director-general of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, said the status of the 58 people aboard TransAsia Airways flight GE222 is still unknown, reports CNA. Shen said there were 54 passengers and four crew members on the flight.

According to Shen, the plane asked to be cleared for a go-around at 7:06 p.m. as it attempted to land at Magong airport in “inclement weather.” The plane “lost contact” with the tower as it was completing the go-around around 300 feet above the ground.

Shen said the turboprop ATR 72 was 14 years old. A meeting has been called by the Aviation Safety Council to investigate the cause of the crash.

Original Story:

At least 45 people are believed dead after a TransAsia Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing at a village in Penghu on Wednesday, reports Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency.

According to CNA, flight GE222 departed at 5 p.m. from Kaohsiung. The flight was scheduled to land at Magong Airport 35 minutes after takeoff. But it crashed at Magong Airport at 7 p.m., more than an hour after its expected landing time. There were 58 people on the plane, reports CNA.

According to the South China Morning Post, Taiwanese transportation authorities said that the plane caught on fire after it landed “at the end of a runway.”

Local fire officials said that 45 passengers had no life signs following the crash. An additional nine people were injured after the crash and sent to local hospitals.

It is not yet known what caused the crash or why the plane did not land at its scheduled time.